About to Explode into Flames
by ProveYou'reRight
Summary: When Zuko joins the group, Katara has no idea how to handle it. She finds herself facing things head on, and not being able to escape her feelings. Based on the song Hurricane by 30 Seconds to Mars. Zutara
1. The boy with the scar

The steam from the ship filled the air as the terrifying, metal ramp crashed down onto the wall of my village. My brother ran towards what I presumed to be their leader. He got up the ramp, and the man kicked him to the side, and he fell off the ramp into the snow. All the women in the village were behind me, some silent, some quietly crying to themselves that this couldn't be happening. The man walked towards all of us, scanning the small group.

"Where are you hiding him?" he asked. The question confused me, who specifically could this Fire Nation slime be looking for?

He suddenly reached his hand out, pulling my Gran Gran away from me. We both simultaneously gasped, and I tried to hold on to her, but his grasp on her was too strong. He pulled my grandma around and showed her to the crowd, stating "He'd be about this age, master of all elements!"

The man, who I now realized was just a teenager, was already fed up with our lack of knowledge/input on who he was trying to find. Master of all elements...he's looking for the Avatar! He pushed my grandmother back to me, I caught her in my arms and held her close, my gaze becoming noticeably cross at this no-good piece of Fire Nation soot.

Then he rounded on us and threw a wave of fire, just above our heads, causing us all to cry out in panic. What is wrong with this guy?!"I know you're hiding him!" He yelled at all of us. Suddenly I heard my brother shout as he picked up his weapon and came at the enemy from behind. _I_f you want the element of surprise, don't shout Sokka.

The boy grabbed him and flipped him over his head, Sokka was seriously underestimating him. Sokka then preceded to land on his ass in the snow, and yelled again. What's with the yelling? It's not getting you anywhere!

The boy threw a fire blast at him which Sokka narrowly escaped by rolling away in the snow. He then threw his boomerang at him, which did surprise him, he barely had enough time to lean back out of the way before the boomerang whizzed past his head. He turned to watch is go, and a little boy from our village shouted the words Sokka had been preaching not even an hour ago. "Show no fear!" and then he proceeded to throw a spear to Sokka. A tiny bit of pride struck my heart, the child was truly brave.

My brother looked up at the boy, then ran full speed at him. The boy side-swiped his spear, knocking the dangerous tip off, then took the rest from Sokka, and proceeded to hit him repeatedly in the head with it. Sokka fell back and rubbed his head, an obvious look of embarrassment on his face. I heard a sound coming from behind the boy, and saw the glint of Sokka's boomerang, boomeranging it's way back to us. I smiled quietly to myself, this should be interesting.

It came around and hit the boy in the head, well the helmet on his head. He stumbled forward and made an _uhghh_sound. He straightened himself and his helmet, growling at Sokka. We all looked at him, in anticipation of his next fire blast. He balled his fists, and fire slowly came out the bottom. Does this happen when all firebenders get angry?

Suddenly Aang, riding a penguin, came rushing in from behind the boy, and flipped him over. The boy fell and slide towards his soldiers, his helmet having been thrown off of him. I noticed a huge scar over his left eye, and instantly wondered what caused that big of a burn.

Aang skated in, the children in the village cheering. He slid past us, spraying snow all over us, but the kids continued to cheer. He stopped near me, and the penguin abruptly stood up and walked away, leaving Aang sitting in the snow.

"Hey Katara, hey Sokka" he smiled at me genuinely, like it was a normal day and there were no Fire Nation soldiers just behind him.

Sokka half-heartedly waved, "Hey, Aang. Thanks for comin'."

We all turned to look as the boy with the scar stood up, an angry, determined look on his face. He held up his arms and his soldiers spread out around Aang, as the boy assumed a fighting stance. The soldiers closed in on Aang as he looked around him, worriedly. He held out his staff, then threw it down, blowing them all away from him and us with a big, airy-cloud of snow.

The boy was still standing, a little bit of snow on his shoulders, but he was not at all deterred. "Looking for me?" Aang called indignantly.

"You're the airbender? You're the Avatar?!" the boy with the scar exclaimed.

"Aang?" I quietly said, my eyes wide with shock. Sokka's face reflected mine, as we stared at him together. "No way," Sokka said quietly.

Aang and the boy started slowly circling each other, the boy with his hands out to protect himself or fight, and Aang holding onto his staff.

"I've spent years preparing for this encounter. Training, meditating, you're just a child!" he called at Aang, spite in his voice. Aang straightened up from his stance, "Well you're just a teenager." he said bluntly.

The boy with the scar threw a blast of fire at Aang, which he mediocrely deflected by spinning his staff around. This happened about three or four times before the fire blasts came near us and we all cried out. Aang turned to look at us, then quickly turned back around. "If I go with you, will you promise to leave everyone alone?" he asked in all seriousness. The boy stood for a second, then silently nodded. The soldiers grabbed Aang, and pulled him towards the ship.

I walked after them, "No Aang, don't do this!"

He turned to me, a smile on his face, "Don't worry Katara, it'll be ok." As he was pulled closer to the ship, he called back, "Take care of Appa for me until I get back!"

The boy called to his crew, "Set a course to the Fire Nation! I'm going home."

Steam filled the air once again as the ramp slowly closed, the boy and Aang standing there, looking at us. Aang smiled wearily, then the ramp shut him and the boy out from my view.

That was the first time I met the boy with the scar.


	2. You Wanted to Leave

Katara closed her eyes. _"I thought you changed!" _Her own voice rang in her ears as she sat down next to the fountain. The sound of the flowing water soothed her, but only for a moment as she realized the world around her could not be washed down a river. She stood up, and walked towards the door that led back inside to the corridors that held their bedrooms on either side. She walked slowly and solemnly, her memories stinging her. She felt tears coming on, but she forced them back firmly, and let rage take place of her sadness. Unclenching her fists, she opened the door to her room and stepped inside, closing it firmly behind her, as if trying to lock her ill-feelings out of the room so she could have peace for just one night.

But alas, feelings are a part of you, and no matter how strong the door, or how firmly it's shut, how strong the lock, they seep back in. They cannot be hidden, covered, or forgotten. They are always there. This fact, and this fact alone, was what had been driving her crazy for the past week since the Prince of the Fire Nation had come to join their group. She hated him. Well, she hated things he did, and how he betrayed her trust. No matter how short the bond of trust had been, she had still been deeply hurt by it, and having him around was just cutting deeper into the wound. Sure, it had scarred over, but she would, as the fact states, never forget it, and now, it was being shoved in her face.

She pulled off her boots, and neatly put them at the foot of her bed. Opening the tiny clasps that held her hair back, it came loose and fell around her face. She shook it out, letting it all hang down, and softly ran her fingers through it. Lying back on her bed, she looked up at the high ceilings. The airbender temple was beautiful, all the stone, murals, statues, and the view was dangerously beautiful. This place was full of a feeling of pure peace. When she was alone, she would sit on the near the edge of one of the cliffs, and simply let the breeze hit her face. It was the free, almost weightless feeling that was one of those few things that could bring a brief smile to her face in this war.

Toph had been the first one of the group to trust Zuko since Ba Sing Se, and had gotten her feet burned. They were healing, but as a result of her burns, she was forcing Zuko to carry her everywhere. Katara hated it. Looking at him carrying the little blind girl, helpless in his arms and completely unable to see, she constantly felt that he would do something behind their backs, and hurt Toph. In her mind, Zuko was the most untrustworthy, manipulative, horrible, cruel person she had ever met. How could he be anything otherwise? He had played a part in the horrible conquering of Ba Sing Se, and indirectly responsible for Aang's death! Even though Aang had been saved, that was under no circumstances enough for Zuko to even take an inch towards being forgiven or trusted by her.

Since joining the group, he had done nothing but good things, and she was sure he had an ulterior motive for this behavior. He had been nothing short of insanely contradictory, and she couldn't stand it. How could she keep going through this? They had a war to fight; she needed to be focused on the task at hand, not Aang's untrustworthy firebending teacher. The wind blew through her slightly opened window as she sighed and curled up on her bed. _Why does the world have to be so torn? Why do I have to be so torn?_ She thought these things as she slowly drifted off to sleep, all the why, what ifs, and how questions slipping into the back of her mind, but never quite behind that door. Her dreams were plagued with these questions, and no matter how many times she told herself she wanted to leave, she couldn't wake up.

ooo

Opening her eyes, she sat up as the slightest hint of the sun began to rise, small rays of light shining over the world. It was beautiful, and for once, Katara considered this without a straying thought. The clouds that called the Western Air Temple gorge their home began to glow wonderful shades of pink, purple, and gold. They lit up the temple, and lifted her spirits ever so slightly. She stretched her arms far above her head and stretched her hands out, splaying out all her fingers and seemingly reaching towards the sky. She pulled them back down, and for the first time in days, she did not re-clench them at her sides. Instead, she headed down towards the courtyard and sat down a little ways away from the fountain. She sat with her legs crossed, her palms spread open wide in her lap. Breathing in deeply, she let her thoughts sink to the back of her mind. Instead, she closed her eyes and focused on the nature around her. The sound of water hitting water in the fountain, the cool breeze flowing through the many halls of the temple, winding its way around poles, statues, and past great paintings. The sound of the birds, flying throughout the gorge, calling to each other in their good morning salutations. These were the things that filled her mind on this cool, wonderful dawn.

She was vaguely aware of another presence, having sensed the very subtle vibrations through the stone floor as she concentrated on the world above, below, and around her. The person sat down, a little bit away from her, and did not bother to say a thing to her. This was another thing she decided to push away.

She moved her thoughts away from the temple, and took a deep breath, scenting the world around her. The morning dew still hung in the air, and the sun was steadily getting a little higher. She continued to concentrate on her breathing, the fresh smells of the natural air around her setting her entire body at ease. She smiled slightly to herself, and sighed lightly as she forgot her problems completely and felt tension slowly release itself from her body. Letting the spirit of God fill her, she felt safe for the first time in months.

The breeze once again began to blow, coming from her left this time. Smelling the air again, an almost smoky smell hit her nose. Her eyes shot open, and she snapped her head to the left. About ten feet away from her sat Zuko, in the same position she had been in. He was the presence she let go unnoticed. How could she be so stupid? Her ignorance could of cost her life!

Once again though, no matter how many times she told herself that she wanted to leave, she could not bring herself to move. So she sat there, waiting, watching, and wondering what was going through the firebenders mind.

"Good morning," she finally said, in a harsh tone that could have sliced through a rock. Her words were false; she would never wish a good morning on this piece of Fire Nation scum.

"Good morning," he replied back, in a cordial, light, and almost friendly voice. This only angered her more and she took a defiant breath, letting it out forcefully. If she had been a firebender, it would have come out as smoke. She realized her hair was still down, and she had no shoes on. It never once crossed her mind to actually get herself ready to come out into the courtyard to meditate at dawn. Why had it not crossed her mind? Because she hadn't expected Zuko to be here.

She looked to him again. He had not moved at all, hadn't even opened his eyes to fully acknowledge her. For some reason she could not understand, this calmed her. He didn't care about her presence, she why should she be worried about his? Taking this to mind, she slowly got up and walked as silently as possible over to the fountain. Looking once to him again, she slowly eased herself into the water. She got on her hands and knees, and let her legs lay out behind her. Holding her breath, she let herself sink to the bottom of the shallow water, completely underwater. The movement of her element around her, and the beautiful silence that it brought gave her comfort. All at once, she forgot there was a firebender sitting not too far away from her. This was a mistake.

Suddenly she felt hands around her waist, pulling her up. Writhing in their grasp, she managed to slip out and swam quickly away. She turned and looked to see who had grabbed her. Her eyes widened when she saw who was giving her the most confused, dumbfounded look she'd ever seen. "Zuko?! What the hell were you doing?!" she yelled.

"I thought something was wrong! It's not every day you see someone lying face down in a fountain! Do you know what that looks like to me? It looks like you had drowned, so I obviously wanted to pull you out to see if you were ok!" he shouted at his own defense.

"Since when have you ever cared if I was ok?! You betrayed me!" she yelled. "You betrayed me…" she said it more softly this time, thankful for the fact that there was enough water on her face to cover the slowly coming tears. Saying it to herself was one thing, but saying it to the person that the feelings of bitterness, betrayal, and hurt belonged to was a totally different story.

He just looked at her with a defeated look on his face, and then said quietly, "I know I have. If you think that, if I had known then what I know now, that I would of done the same thing, make the same decision, you're wrong. I know I've said this before, but I've changed."

That was it for her. She quickly jumped out of the fountain, running soaking wet down the hallway back to her room, leaving Zuko standing there, alone.

A/N: Ok, so I changed this story's name, because the old title sounded like it would just be random drabbles, and this most certainly is not. This book is going to be based on the song Hurricane by 30 Seconds to Mars. This song is one of my favorites, and I think it could fit a Zutara book very well. I would love to get a comment or two on whether or not I should alternate between Zuko POV and Katara POV. If so, I may do this every chapter, or whenever I see fit. PLEASE, I'm begging you, give me feedback!

Next chapter shall be about Katara and Aang, and guess what Aang's gonna do? No, not preach forgiveness…yet. She shall be comforted by Aang, annoyed by Sokka, and pestered by Toph. Until then…well the wait shouldn't be long since this story is seemingly just rolling off my fingertips onto the computer. This chapter only took me two hours :D

Rantoverkbye.


	3. You Still Couldn't Breathe

You Still Couldn't Breathe.

Katara's shoulders shook as she sat down on her bed and held her head in her hands. Having bended the water out of her clothes, she had no hesitation to just lie down and cry. The tears kept coming, silently of course, for she could not alert the others to her pain, and she could never show weakness, she was their caretaker after all. She could not go on doing this, she needed to confront her feelings.

"Why are you feeling this way? What is bothering you?" she said to herself in her head.

"He hurt me! I'm afraid of him, I can't trust him, and he doesn't deserve to be here! I can't keep feeling this rage and anger towards him!" she said, out loud this time.

"Then don't," a voice said, and she realized it couldn't of been her own. She looked around and saw Aang standing in the door way, a pained expression across his features; she knew how much he hated seeing her hurt. "You can't do this to yourself Katara."

"Aang, you don't understand what I'm going through at all. You were almost killed, because of his decision. You've been almost killed countless times by him, and he's tried to take you away from us so many times. How could we possibly forgive him and trust him? He's hurt me the most because of that betrayal under Ba Sing Se, I know it was a small thing in the big picture, but that decision pretty much led to your death, and that weight seemed to somehow fall on my shoulders," she said as he came to sit next to her.

"Katara, I was the one who was trying to be killed. I was the one who was trying to be captured. I was the one who died…" she cut him off.

"I know, but when you see someone you love being shot by lightning because of some stupid prince's decision, you don't forgive him easily!" she shouted. "He's not worth my forgiveness, and he never will be! I don't care how many nice things he does for us!" Katara then stormed out of the room, leaving yet another boy behind to look confused that day.

Quickly, she ran back, farther into the temple until she found what seemed to be almost an indoor courtyard. It was a huge, open space, filled with statues of flying bison around the sides, and a patch of grass in the middle, about the width of Appa. Sunlight barely filtered in on just that spot, and when she looked up, she saw that there was an opening going up from the grass, all the way to the top of the temple. Apparently, the monks did want a little bit of grass in their temple. She walked over to it, and felt a surge of energy and calm as she sat down on it. The blades of the lovely green carpet were as soft as her furs at home. There was definitely something different and special about this room. Vines were growing around the roof, and had small flowers growing off of them. The place seemed to lift the feeling of hurt off her shoulders as she felt sunlight seep into her and the breeze surrounded her.

A little lizard type bird flew down from one of the vines and landed a small bit away from her. She cocked her head at it, she'd never seen one before. _Maybe they're only native to this temple, _Katara thought.

The little creature scurried towards her, stopping only a few feet away. It stomped on the ground with one of its feet, causing dust to come up. It coughed, and a little bit of fire came out of its mouth. Her eyes widened, what was this animal? It saw her change in emotion, and gave her a puzzled look. It then proceeded to give her a soft little growl, which wasn't at all aggressive, as it came closer to her, causing her to smile. She peered closer at it, and as she did so, it stretched its head up and sniffed her with innocent curiosity. The little animal decided it'd learned enough, and then crawled over to sit by her side, curling up with its head resting on her knee. It looked up at her, and she smiled, reaching to pet its scaly head.

"Do you want to come back to my room with me, little one?" she asked it softly.

It nodded as if it completely understood her. As she stood up, it flew up and landed on her shoulder. "I think I'm going to name you Mini, I think it's a perfect name for a beautiful little creature like you." Mini nodded again, showing her approval of her name.

Katara walked back to her room, Mini curled up on her shoulder. As she came to her doorway, she checked first to make sure Aang wasn't still in there. He was not. Mini leapt off her shoulder and down onto the bed, curling up and quickly making herself at home. She had a new roommate, whether she liked it or not.

"Mini, I need you to come with me to meet the other's, I'm sure they'll all be excited to see you."

Mini growled, showing she didn't want to. Katara shook her head and picked her up, cradling Mini in her arms this time so she could rest. She briskly walked the rest of the length of the hall until she reached the courtyard. Everyone was there. Sokka was sitting on the fountain's ledge, lazily sharpening his boomerang. Zuko was sitting against one of the pillars with his shirt off, his practice with Aang must have just ended. _How long was I in that room? _she thought.

Aang was sitting with Toph, discussing the importance of NOT wearing shoes while earthbending. They both simultaneously turned their heads as she walked in. Aang's face was wide with shock and all Toph said was, "Hey Sugar Queen." Aang got up and walked towards her, "Katara, where did you find that?" he asked, shocked.

"I found her in a large room far down the hall from our rooms. Do you know what she is?"

"Yeah, that's an infant dragon," he said, awe-filled. This got Zuko's attention, he sprang up and walked over slowly, eyeing Mini. Katara's eyes widened at Aang's comment, "A…dragon? You're kidding right?" she said, looking at the little creature in her arms. That explained what the fire had been. She felt stupid for not realizing that bit sooner. She shook Mini slightly, and she opened her eyes, they were a gorgeous, ice blue. The rest of her body was a mix of blue and white, with red flecks here and there, like little sparks of fire.

"I'm one hundred percent serious. This little animal is a dragon. Also, since she's accepted you, you're now her owner," he said this with a smile.

"I can't take care of a dragon!" she said with exasperation. She had enough on her plate without having to deal with a dragon.

"Quite the contrary," Aang said, "She can take care of herself, she just has loyalty to you. She will come in handy to you when she's older, and will take care of you, as Appa takes care of me. The only thing I'm wondering is how there is an infant dragon in the Western Air Temple?"

"Dragon eggs can take up to forty years to hatch," Zuko said. They all turned their attention to him, hoping for more information. He willingly gave it. "The last dragons were killed a little over three decades ago, it's very possible that she could be one of the last of their offspring. How she ended up here, I will never know. Aang is right about her loyalty though, she's yours Katara."

She smiled, "I named her Mini, which is going to be short for Minami," she said, proud of her new pet.

"That's a beautiful name for a beautiful creature," said Zuko, as he stepped towards her. She stiffened, but relaxed a little as she realized all he wanted to do was pet Mini. He gently stroked the little dragon's head, and she chirped, pushing her head into his hand. He moved his hand back and produced a little flame, and she responded by blowing flames into his hand. He smiled the most genuine, handsome smile Katara had ever seen. Mini chirped again, showing her obvious liking of the Fire Prince. Perhaps if her new companion animal liked him, Katara could start to be more cordial to him. After all, Mini was supposed to be her new guide, she had to trust her.

Zuko moved back, allowing the others to come and say hello to Minami. The little dragon was enjoying all of this attention. She purred as people were petting her and lightly scratching her scales. At one point, Aang held out his arm, and she walked out to perch on it. He laughed as she licked his arm. Katara knew her companion would be a great friend to not just her, but to all of them. What Katara couldn't figure out was why she was given an original firebender as a companion, and not a water related animal. But as she looked to Mini, she didn't care, because she could see that Mini had just as much spirit and kindness as she did.

ooo

Katara was in the kitchen cooking dinner when Toph walked in. Mini perked up her head from where she was curled up on the counter, but put in back down when she realized it was a familiar face. "Sugar Queen, we need to have a talk about Sparky."

Katara sighed, "Not now Toph."

"No, I'm serious. What is up with you? I know everything he's done to you, and don't think or assume that I don't understand what it's like to have someone you trust hurt you. You can't keep doing this, it's hurting both of you. Yeah, I felt your heartbeat change, you didn't think it was hurting him too, did you? Well it is. Man up Princess, you're just tearing yourself apart. If nothing else, hear him out at least. He's a nice kid, and he at least deserves your undivided attention for a few minutes."

With that being said, Toph exited the room, leaving Katara to contemplate her short, but to the point speech. She looked to Mini, who was already looking at her. The little dragon blew fire towards a pillar in the courtyard. Katara looked, and saw Zuko sitting there, leaning against the pillar with his eyes closed.

She silently kept stirring the meal of meatless soup, in favor of Aang's meatless, vegetarian diet. Sokka hated it, and she simply told him that if he didn't like it, he could go make himself a meal with meat in it. He refused, saying it was women's work to do the dishes, this usually led to a squabble in which Katara would storm off and Sokka would huff and puff about the fact that he was a growing boy and that he needed meat. Toph was usually on the receiving end of the complaining and would simply respond with, "Ok Snoozles. Uh huh, that's great." And other various responses that showed that she couldn't care less.

Once the soup lived up to her satisfaction, she told everyone to come and get their fair share. She took a small bowl for herself, and looked to Mini. The little dragon needed meat, she knew that, but she also knew that the little, self-sufficient creature could get it for herself. Instead of what she expected, Mini pressed her head into Katara's shoulder and purred, purposefully staring at the soup. "Is that what you want? Do you like vegetables as well as meat?" Mini nodded with great enthusiasm. She smiled, and filled a small bowl full and put it on the counter. Mini lapped up the soup with gusto, and Katara left the kitchen, bringing a small bowl of soup for herself, and a larger one for Zuko. The reason she was doing this, she didn't entirely know, but her body was just telling her to take it to him, so were Mini's reassuring, adorable glances.

She took a deep breath and she approached the Fire Prince. She stopped a few paces away, calming herself before she accidentally froze his soup or some other harsh action that would just get her nowhere. Continuing forward, she placed the bowl in front of him, and sat down in front of him. "Zuko? I brought you some soup, I didn't know if you wanted any…" she said, in a soft tone that was most civilized for the way she had been acting. The left side of his face was lit up by the crackling fire in the midst of the courtyard, which the rest of the group sat around. The other half was shrouded in black, leaving him looking much meaner than she knew he was, yet it still unnerved her.

He opened one eye, and sat up, "Thank you Katara. Now, I know you enough to tell that you didn't come here to just offer me soup, for you would not be sitting down. What is it that you came for?" He asked this question in his raspy voice, that sounded like it had been broken a hundred times over, and he had a strange, accusing tone to his voice. He brought his spoon to his lips and took a tentative sip of the soup. He looked at her, one eyebrow quirked, willing her to answer him.

"I…well see…I haven't given you a chance to talk, about what really happened down there, and why I should believe you've changed."

He nodded slowly, taking another small spoonful of his soup. "You're right, you haven't. Even so, I understand why you have not. I probably would be acting the same way, or even worse." As he said this, a look flashed over his face, as if he was recalling times he had acted worse, but for lesser reasons.

He continued, "When I was in Ba Sing Se, I still wanted to capture Aang, yet I had no means of doing so. When one day Aang flew overhead and was dropping flyers around the city looking for Appa, claiming that he was lost. I then found out where he was, and went to take him, as to lure Aang in. My uncle, General Iroh, stopped me, and told me that I needed to start asking myself the big questions. 'Who are you? And what do you want?' These words hit home with me, so to speak. I took them to heart, and decided to set Appa free, instead of keeping him in that cell below Lake Laogai, or taking him for myself." He paused, and Katara nodded him to go on, showing that he had her full attention.

He took a deep breath, "When I went back to the tea shop with my uncle, I fell ill. Uncle said it was because I was at war within myself, that my body needed to adjust to the sudden difference in me. I woke up a completely different person. I was positive, happy. My life had changed, I had changed. When my sister came back, she tried to persuade me into joining her, and I refused, and tried to fight her. She beat me easily, and I was thrown into the catacombs with you. You already know what happened there, but let me just say, that encounter changed me. I felt like someone cared, someone wanted to heal me. You offered such kindness after all I've done, and you have no idea how badly I feel for betraying you.

"When we broke out, I thought that I would fight with you, but I saw that if I went with my sister, I'd be allowed to go back home. My father would accept me, a hero, with honor and pride. I thought he'd be proud of me, I thought he would lov…uh, welcome me back as his family. He did, but when I went back, it was not at all what I thought it would be. I got everything I wanted, but nothing I wanted at the same time. I had to give up who I was to fit in there, I had to keep my mouth shut when I wanted to speak out. I learned the hard way that speaking out is the worst possible thing you can do to my father. I went to a war meeting, and was the perfect son, the son my father always wanted, but I wasn't me."

"Why then, did you betray us and go back?" she asked with sincerity.

"I thought that it was what I wanted. I see now that my place is here. Anyway, when the invasion came, I knew I could not stay there and keep living this lie. I knew it was what my mother would want me to do. I confronted my father when he had no bending, the only way I truly could. I told him that I would not take orders from him anymore, and that I was going to join you. He scoffed at me, and told me that I was a coward for only coming to him when he was powerless. When he had his abilities back, he shot lightning at me. That was the first time I've ever re-directed lightning. My own father, tried to kill me without a second thought to it…" He paused, closed his eyes as he remembered the memory. Katara, being who she was, wanted to hug him and say it was ok, but she couldn't, she was rooted to her place on the stone-cold ground. She also knew that he was not really one for comfort.

He took a deep breath, "I left then, took a war balloon, and ended up here. Katara, I never went back to my old ways, I was confused. I never wanted Aang to be killed, I would never wish that on a child. My sister is merciless; she's tried killing me countless times. I just want you to understand, that the last thing I want is to see Aang lose this war. That's why I'm here. He needs to learn firebending before he faces my father, or he will be killed. I'm sorry to put it so blatantly, but it's the cold truth, and I know he's accepted it."

Katara nodded, taking in all of the information. Mini was right, and so was Toph, she did need to at least hear him out. She got into a much longer explanation than she had bargained for, but it was what she had needed. "I believe you."

"You…you do?" he stuttered, utterly confused, he hadn't expected this out of her, she could tell.

"Yes, I do. Do you wish to know why?"

He nodded vigorously, so she went on. "I believe you because I've seen your sister, I believe you because I know that even you would not lie about losing your mother. I also know your uncle to be a kind man who I know was close to you, and you valued him. I know that because of how you were so devastated when your sister hurt him at that deserted town, when we all fought against her. Lastly, I know those things you've said about your father are true. What kind of man could possibly keep the world in this shape and not fit to the things you've said? I do believe you Zuko. I haven't forgiven you, but you've shown me that I can believe in at least some of the things you say. I'm sorry for how your father treated you. Now eat your soup before it gets cold," she said with a hint of friendliness in her voice.

The sides of his lips curled ever so slightly into a smile, "My food never gets cold," he said as he blew a hot breath of fire onto the soup. They ate in silence, both casting glances towards their friends around the fire. They had long since finished their food, and were playing with Momo and Mini, who were getting along well. The two little creatures were passing a rock back and worth, causing the whole group to smile. Katara cast a quick glance at Zuko, seeing him smiling at the two animal's antics as well. He was definitely more human than she had ever expected him to be.

"Are you finished?" she asked. He nodded and she reached for his bowl. "No need Katara, here, give me yours, I can help you with the dishes if you wish."

She nodded, "Thanks," and handed him her bowl. They walked back to the kitchen, and put one dish at a time into the water. Zuko placed his hands in the water and slowly brought the temperature up. "Tell me when it's either hot enough, or too hot," he said politely.

"That's hot enough, thank you," she said. They scrubbed in silence, Katara using her bending and Zuko simply using his hands. When the water would cool, he would heat it again to Katara's desired temperature. She felt tense at first, but slowly relaxed as their cleaning fell into a steady rhythm of heating, scrubbing, and drying. She decided to try to make some small talk.

"What kind of foods do you like? I've tweaked our meals to include food from three cultures, is there anything to add from yours that you think everyone would like? We're getting a little tired of the same meals," she said nonchalantly.

"Well, most of the things that are strictly Fire Nation may be a little too spicy for you, but there are a lot of fruit-related dishes I can make for you guys," he replied, looking a little excited.

"Are you some kind of cook? Is that one of your hidden talents?" she said with a tiny bit of humor in her voice.

"Well, I actually enjoy cooking, a lot. Mainly because of the fact that I had to learn a few things about cooking pastries and such at Uncle's tea shop in Ba Sing Se. I love fruit, probably more than most of the foods I've ever had, and I know certain things to make with them included. Do you by chance have any rice?"

"Lots, more than we need really," she said, hoping that he actually was a good cook, so he could help her with that as well.

"Perfect, save some for breakfast tomorrow, you won't regret it," he said with a smile.

Katara nodded, "Ok," she said, with less enthusiasm than she could of showed. She still did not want to be friends with this Prince, but she certainly would not refuse his help and possible sweets for breakfast. They put away the dishes and she thanked him for his help. She said goodnight to everyone, and Toph gave her a knowing look, the look that said, "Ha, I was right." Katara rolled her eyes, even though Toph couldn't see it, she knew that Toph could tell what she was thinking because she smiled. Mini saw Katara leaving, and licked Momo's cheek goodnight. The lemur touched the spot on his face that she had licked and gave her a weird look. Katara chuckled; the animals in their group were so smart and adorable.

Mini, instead of flying, scampered after Katara and gave her a little bark as she caught up. They entered Katara's room, and she changed into her other night dress, realizing she had never changed out of her previous one from last night. Crawling into bed, with Mini snuggled against her, Katara fell asleep, soundly this time, and was not plagued with the same, devastating dreams she had been all week. "Thank you Toph," she whispered in her sleep.

ooo

Mini prodded Katara and insistently chirped until she replied, "Alright, alright, I'm up!" She pushed the covers off of her and sat up, stretching. It was dawn, _Firebenders rise with the sun_ she reminded herself. Of course, Mini was a firebender in her own special way. Katara quickly changed into her day clothes, pulled on her mid-length gloves, slipped into her boots and left her room, Mini in tow. She decided that since it had relaxed her for a while yesterday, she would meditate on the ledge again.

There was barely any sun, and the valley was very quiet with very few animals stirring yet. Mini padded up beside her, and looked up to her. Katara eyed the dragon closely, _had she grown overnight? _She did not know, but the dragon seemed much taller and longer than the day before. Katara pushed this out of her mind and sat down on the cold ground. She laid her palms face up as she had done the day before, closed her eyes, and listened to the sounds around her. She could hear more things today than she previously had. She could hear birds chirping very far away, a waterfall farther away in the temple, goat-sheep moving along the ledges in the gorge, and the breeze was much clearer to her today. Taking a deep breath, she scented the air. The sweet smell of flowers and fruits from the orchard up top filled her nose, and she sighed wistfully. This was the feeling she loved about the temple in the morning, the sweet stillness of it all.

Opening her eyes, she saw the clouds become lit once again, and saw something dark against them. Mini wasn't around her, and when she looked closer, she saw the dragon flying high in the clouds, magnificent with the rising sun. "She's beautiful," a deep voice said behind her.

She didn't need to turn to see who it was, she knew that voice anywhere. "Yes, she is. I have a question, how fast do dragons grow?"

"She'll be to her full size within a few days," he replied quickly, no need for second thoughts. He knew a lot about them apparently.

"What? How? No animal grows that fast." She looked out at her companion; the little creature would soon be a magnificent beast.

"Not sure, but I guess it makes up for how long you have to wait for one to hatch," he said as he sat down beside her. Katara stiffened, she still was uncomfortable with his presence. She decided to give up meditating in favor of her discomfort and empty stomach. "Don't you have a recipe to show me?"

"Well yes, I normally meditate first, but I'm hungry too. I went and picked all the fruits last night so it wouldn't take so long to make this morning," he said modestly.

"Well, uh, thanks." That was really helpful, but she didn't feel like saying it out loud, instead she walked with him to the kitchen. No matter how short the walk, it still felt like an eternity when she had to walk with him. She still wished he wasn't in the group, and that Aang could find someone, anyone, else to teach him. Why did Zuko think he had the right to just come on over and ask to be Aang's teacher? She still didn't understand that much. There were a lot of things she didn't know about him. To be honest, she knew next to nothing about him besides what she had told him the night before.

They walked into the kitchen and she saw a huge plate full of fruits. It must have taken him hours to acquire this much. What on earth possessed him to do these nice things? To go out of his way like this? Whatever the cause, she was glad to have this much fruit. She grabbed the rice from one of the shelves and handed it to him, and he explained his recipe and process. "So, first what you do is cook the rice. Once you're done cooking it, you mash it up so it's kind of a mushy substance. Then you cut up the fruit into small little chunks. Before you put it in though, you need to squeeze the juices out of some of the fruits to give the rice a sweet flavor to it as well. You go ahead and relax, I can make this myself, you've done enough cooking for us all recently, you deserve a break."

She looked at him, shocked. Had a man, someone of the male species, just told her to relax and let HIM cook? All she could do was smile and nod. She sat on one of the countertops, and watched as he went to work. She'd never seen such rough hands so such delicate work, much less Zuko's hands. He looked as if he had done this a hundred times, having it down to an absolute science. She envied that in a way, cooking had never really been all that easy for her, and it was forced upon her when her mother died. How she hated suddenly being the forced-care taker of the house. Out here, with her new family (minus Zuko), she knew she was doing this for a good reason, she was the only one who could really provide for them. They were either boys, horrible cooks, or blind. On top of that she also: taught Aang waterbending, washed all the clothes, mended all the clothes, collected all the vegetables for food, and was usually the main person who set up camp. She was getting pretty tired of being considered the only person with responsibilities because "it's women's work," or because "I'm training, sorry Katara." The only person who hadn't pulled those excuses on her was Zuko, but it was only a matter of time before that happened as well.

She scoffed at the thoughts of her being forced to do everything because she was a woman, she couldn't stand it. Zuko turned around when he heard her scoff, "You ok?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied almost bitterly. She hadn't meant to, it was just the fact that she was talking to Zuko, it had become normal to respond like that.

A slightly pained expression crossed his handsome features. _Handsome? Since when have you thought he was handsome? _She reprimanded herself for this. "Oh, ok," he said, almost sadly as he returned to work.

A few minutes later, he turned back towards her with a spoonful of the mashed rice in hand. "Do you want to try it before I continue? I don't want to waste the fruit if you don't like the rice," he said.

"Oh, uh, sure," she said. She was about to reach for the spoon when he brought it to her lips instead. This act surprised her, but she accepted it. The rice was delicious, she would have to make him cook for the gang more often. "It's great," she said, pulling away from the spoon. "Let me help you with cutting the fruit. It's the least I can do after you made this for me, or, us."

He nodded, "If you wish," and handed her one of the knives for cutting. She shook her head, "Watch this," she said, putting the knife back down. She grabbed some water from the air, and laid a banana flat on the counter. Then, separated the water into four strands, she lashed it towards the banana and sliced it into four neat pieces, and repeated it, slicing it into eight, bite-size pieces.

He nodded his head in approval, "Nice technique," he said, smiling slightly. For whatever reason, she couldn't understand, she returned the smile. They set to cutting, her with her water, and him with his knife. Never before had she noticed how much of a skilled swordsman this firebender was. At least he didn't completely rely on his bending like she did. Sadly, she was helpless without it. Maybe sometime in the future she could ask him to teach her swords. She dismissed this thought, labeling it as crazy. In no way would she fraternize with Zuko more than what was necessary.

Once they finished the cutting, Zuko took a few handfuls of fruit at a time and slightly heated them. "When you heat them up, it produces more flavor," he explained before she had the chance to ask, as she had been planning to. When he finished, Katara stirred the mix together and smiled, she was sure the rest of the group would be very happy with their new option on the menu of meals.

She realized everyone had woken up at the time they had finished, and the sun was well up above the line of the gorge. Toph walked into the kitchen, "You two better be making breakfast, oh, that smells awesome! What is it?!" she said excitedly as she smelled the warmed fruit in the mix.

"You'll see in a minute, it's Zuko's recipe, I think you'll like it," Katara said, silently thanking Toph again for, in some way, putting her mind to ease about Zuko.

"Sweet," the earthbender replied as she walked over to the counter to grab a bowl and a spoon. She shoved her bowl in Katara's face, "Load me up, Sugar Queen," she demanded. Katara was about to retort, but decided against it for the sole fact that Toph had helped her. She took Toph's bowl and filled it up, handing it back to her, "Watch out, it's a little hot," she said as the earthbender was bringing a spoonful to her mouth.

"Relax Princess, I know it's hot," she replied as she left the kitchen. Sometimes Katara just wanted to shout at Toph, she was always such a smart ass to her even when Katara was just trying to be helpful in little ways. She knew it was because Toph always wanted to be independent, which is why it drove her nuts when she couldn't see because of the burns on her feet. Toph's parents were unbelievably controlling, and for that, Katara felt sorry for Toph. Although she could never express it, it would only upset Toph further because, "I don't need your pity."

Zuko insisted that he take the task of filling up everyone's bowls and serving it to them, like he had in Ba Sing Se when he worked in Uncle's tea shop. Katara willingly agreed, and went out to sit next to everyone along the wall in the back of the courtyard. She sat a little away from them around a corner, not really feeling like being included in their jovial conversations when she still was in an almost permanently foul mood. Of course she wouldn't snap at any of them, she just didn't feel like putting on a brave face and pretend to be happy with her current circumstances. Zuko served everyone, and lastly came to her, he handed her breakfast to her. "I hope you like it," he said quietly before taking his own and walking a few paces away to sit near the ledge. She could understand part of his separation from the group, it was the same reason as hers. The other part she knew, but could not understand. That was that he had not yet been accepted into the group the way the others had. Even though Teo, Haru, and the Duke were pretty much new as well, they were not former enemies like Zuko. Katara knew not of those feelings, being part of the "original three" in the group.

She looked down at her bowl and saw that he specially put a cherry on the top of her meal. Figuring it was just because of her help, she ate it without much thought. Chewing and swallowing it, she felt it get lodged in her throat. Trying to swallow it, she felt it only get lodged further. Terror gripped her with an iron grip as she realized she could barely breathe. She couldn't cough, so she tried smacking the wall to get someone, anyone's attention. Mentally cursing at herself for sitting on the other side of the wall, out of sight, she felt tears of fear come streaming down her face. She had no intention of dying here, and most certainly not like this.

Smacking the wall louder, she tried to get someone's attention again. Everyone was oblivious except the firebender. He turned to her and saw her clutching her throat, unable to breathe. He ran to her, "Is something caught in your throat?" he demanded, fear strewn across his face. Katara nodded, as much of a nod as she could manage. He pulled her up off the ground and turned her around so that her back was to him. She couldn't speak, but she could whimper, and she did this as she cried in sheer fear.

He wrapped his hands around her waist and formed them into a fist. He squeezed her stomach as hard as he could, and did this repeatedly until she began coughing. He let her go, but still held her up with his hands on both of her shoulders and she coughed, still whimpering and crying from what she had just gone through. She then started pulling in as much breath as she could.

"Katara, listen to me, I know you want a lot of air, but you need to calm down and breathe slowly. I know what that feels like, I'm sorry you had to go through it. Calm down and take deep, slow breaths. Gasping like that is only going to make you more light headed and dizzy. There you go, calm breaths, good," he said, calm in the face of her exasperation.

She breathed as he told her until her breathing was back to normal. At this point, the whole gang was crowded around her, and she slumped down against the cold wall. Zuko told everyone that all she needed at this point was to be left alone and calmed, not pestered by them. She was thankful for this, for that was really what she would have said if she could of at that point. All of them left, with Sokka lingering a little longer to make sure his little sister was ok. Once she reassured him without words, he left, the only two that stayed were Aang and Zuko.

"Thank you for saving her Zuko. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't been here…" he trailed off at that point. He leaned down and hugged Katara. She had stopped crying, but she was still quite shaken. Aang squeezed her shoulder reassuringly, and then decided to leave her too. Zuko stayed, and sat next to her in silence. For a few minutes it remained this way until she spoke her mind.

"You tried to kill me," she rasped, a look of pure hatred in her eyes.

"What? What are you talking about Katara?" he asked, absolutely shocked by this change of events.

"You put that cherry there, you knew I would choke on it, didn't you?"

"Katara, you're still just shaken up, I.." she didn't let him finish.

"You knew I would choke! You thought no one would hear me because I sat over here!" she shouted. He was a murderer, she hated him all over again. He was trying to kill her, and here she thought he was being nice to her. She would never fall for him being nice again.

"Katara, I saved you! Don't you get that?! Why would I try to kill you just to save your life?!" he yelled in exasperation.

"To prove you're good! So you could seem like a great guy for saving Katara! Oh thanks Zuko, you're such a great guy!" she said, mocking the rest of the gang's reactions. "Well guess what, you're not fooling me! I hate you, you lying, stupid asshole!" She yelled this as she ran away from him, down to her room.

And that's where she stayed for the rest of the day. Lying on her bed, stricken with the feelings she'd had all over again, but worse this time. He just loved hurting her personally, didn't he? She couldn't believe what he had pulled this time. This was a new low for him. Mini came to her when it grew dark out and curled up next to her, taking up much more of the bed than she had the night before. Katara didn't care, she was glad for the silent companionship, the comfort, and the warmth that her new friend brought to her. Tears fell silently down her face for the rest of the night as she recalled what all that he had ever done to her.

And no matter how my breaths she took that night, she felt like she still couldn't breathe.

**A/N: **

Well this chapter was eventful, non-eventful, then eventful again! You didn't think I'd let those two get along so well this early, did you? Never!

Ok, with Mini, or Minami, I did NOT plan for that at all. It just sort of happened…I know it's completely off of the story, and not at all a realistic thing for the show, but I absolutely love dragons, like…adore them, and I feel like with Katara's strong personality, she needs some sort of animal guide. I would really like feedback on that matter.

Please people, review this! I spent all day on this chapter, because I saw that this book was getting lots of traffic when I posted my last chapter, so I spent the entire day cranking out a new chapter. For anyone who reads this, thank you!

Next chapter will be from Zuko's POV, even though I got no replies on that -_- I think we need to drift away from Katara's pouty-ness and move onto Zuko's pouty-ness! :D

Sorry for this chapter possibly being boring

Peace off.


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